As happens time and time again, at a professional learning experience related to technology, I learned not as much about technology as about learning.

I’ve enrolled in Charting a Direction for Online Learning, a year long course designed for educators at independent schools. The course is sponsored by Online School for Girls, a learning organization serving a consortium of independent girls schools by assisting member schools to collaboratively develop blended learning experiences for their students. Most of the learning in this professional course occurs on-line, yet this past week I attended the first of two face to face sessions.

“Blended and online learning is as evolving of a field is there is in education. It is flipped on its head every six months or so,” shared Brad Rathberger, Director of Online School for Girls. We are beginning to recognize the potential to dramatically shift control of learning from teachers to students not as much through the technology as through the previously unimaginable potential for flexibility in the use of space and time made possible with technology.

Among the greatest moments of learning was the opportunity to hear from a number of students at School of the Holy Child. “We learn a lot about responsibility, academic integrity, learning to work with other people, and flexibility,” shared one of these very impressive high school seniors, reflecting on a course she was taking in multi-variable calculus. Participating in a college level math course, and interacting with some of the top female high school math students in the country, she interestingly didn’t reflect as much on math or technology, as on learning and growth, noting with maturity how she is less shy and more able to manage her time than she had been prior to her online learning experience.

While one cannot make generalizations about online and blended learning as there are so many approaches, evolving so rapidly, there are a number of broad models currently in use:

Rotation Model

Flex Model

Self-Blend Model

Enriched-Virtual Model

Rotation Model

Station Rotation Model

Students rotate through three broad types of activities in a continuous loop: individualized online instruction, teacher-led instruction, and collaborative activities and stations. This is the simplest blended learning model.

Alternatively, instead of one component of online learning there are two components, the individualized on-line instruction and the on-line assessments. Students rotate through four broad types of activities in a continuous loop: individualized online instruction, individualized online assessment, teacher-led instruction, and collaborative activities and stations.

Lab Rotation model

There is direct instruction for 3/4 of the day in math/science and literacy/social studies with teachers. There is a learning lab with on-line activities for the rest of the day, supervised by paraprofessionals.

Individual Rotation Model

There is a central computer lab along with numerous other learning settings, chosen depending on what a student might need; intervention, seminars, direct instruction, and group projects.

Flex Model

Students learn in a massive computer lab staffed by paraprofessionals for about half their day; and work with teachers in small groups for the other half. They come together for lunch and social activities.

Self-Blend Model

There is a physical place for students to come to learn in a collaborative environment when they choose to do so. Students can also work at home with their online teacher. They are not required to be in school.

Enriched Virtual Model

Students participate in supplemental on-line courses.

Independent mission-driven schools, not yet as fast moving or skilled at collaboration with other schools as we will need to become, must overcome a number of challenges, and capitalize on numerous strengths and opportunities, in order to design our own solutions for utilizing on-line and blended learning. If we are not proactive, as Brad Rathberger warns, we may find ourselves forced into solutions that do not reflect our missions.

As we move forward, what shall we consider in the move to blended learning options? How might we imagine anew possibilities for use of space, time, and financial resources? How might we assess the quality of on-line options? How might we support teachers to adapt and prepare for teaching and learning in a blended environment? How might we prepare our students? What cautions might we consider? What might inspire and enable us to dream?

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Few topics have engaged the Jewish media and Shabbos table
more intensely than the day school “tuition crisis” which is jeopardizing the
sustainability of our day schools by placing tremendous stress on family
budgets on the one hand and on schools’ abilities to fund first rate programs
on the other hand.

The pressure to reduce expenses and tuition levels is
intense. Based on benchmarking analysis conducted by the YU School Partnership
(YUSP) in approximately forty schools in five East Coast and Midwestern
communities*, a prime source of potential efficiencies lies in making more
productive use of faculty resources in our schools. After all, faculty members
are the most valuable, highest cost element within our schools. A key challenge to productivity is thinly
populated class sections. By “section” we meet a course offering such as 9th
grade honors Talmud or Advanced Hebrew language.

An examination of course offering and enrollment patterns at
five high schools drawn from our benchmarking school sample illustrates the
point. All of the schools are college preparatory in nature, all are co-ed.
Enrollment ranges from about 100 to 300.

When the schools’ sections are arrayed from high to low in
terms of enrollment, we see the following pattern.

Section
Enrollment

School
A

B

C

D

E

School
Avg

Lower
1/3

6.5

7.2

4.1

7.0

6.5

6.2

Mid
1/3

13.1

10.8

9.2

14.2

13.1

12.1

high
1/3

19.5

16.4

17.9

21.6

18.9

18.9

In terms of the extent to which the schools’ are filling
their enrollment capacity with capacity
defined individually by each school, a picture of underutilized capacity in
two thirds of the sections emerges.

The cost implications are significant since the cost of
offering a section is basically fixed: teacher compensation and facilities
costs.

Options to improve capacity utilization must obviously
include offering fewer sections where this is possible. Schools often take the
position that they need to offer a large range of sections to meet the needs of
diverse learners and to be competitive in their marketplaces.

Another obvious solution is to fill seats in low capacity
sections through enhanced recruitment and retention activities. This should
obviously always be a priority. But in some markets the potential student
populations are already saturated and retention is high.

Fortunately, another emerging powerful solution is for
schools to build their competency in blended classroom instruction and online
instruction to enable fewer, larger sections coincident with more
individualized instruction and high quality student learning. In a blended
classroom, teachers can utilize online resources in a variety of ways to complement
their own teaching: to convey new concepts and/ or reinforce concepts taught in
the classroom through structured exercises tailored to each individual student.
Teachers can also utilize new learning management systems to monitor the
precise degree of mastery of concepts by each student and group students with
common learning needs in small groups so they learn together independently.

The range of online course offerings and curricular
materials is proliferating. Open source learning management systems like Moodle
enable faculty members to put their own blended curricula together . We are on
the cusp of a golden opportunity to blend efficiency and higher quality
learning experiences. Now is the time for active experimentation with blended
learning by all schools.

The
YUSP’s educational technology expert, Dr. Eliezer Jones (ejones1@yu.edu), is
actively exploring all of the available options including commercial platforms
and curricula, open source (free and ability to customize) learning platforms
and curricula, as well as the creation of consortia that pool proven open
source courseware and collaboratively develop affordable and high quality
online curricula in general and Judaic studies. This fall, Dr. Jones will be
facilitating an online certificate program for Jewish Day School educators in
online/blended instruction and design in an effort to build schools’ capacity
to implement these models effectively and efficiently. He is an available
resource as part of the YUSP education team focused on 21st century learning in
Jewish Day Schools. Interested parties can sign up at www.YUeLearning.org to
follow YUSP's work in this area.

For
additional information or to share your own experiences and thoughts about this
topic feel free to contact Dr. Harry Bloom at hbloom1@yu.edu

High schools should also actively consider the creation of
consortia of schools with similar educational aspirations and market and
customer challenges. Having school 1 take the lead in subject A and school 2 in
subject B is a way for schools to capitalize on scarce talent and resources
while learning through active experimentation.

It is only through this kind of purposeful and collaborative
experimentation that we will learn how to achieve the benefits of truly
tailored instruction and learning and efficiency, both critical elements for
sustainable, high quality day schools of the future. “If not now, when?”

*This work is generously supported by The AVI CHAI
Foundation and federations and foundations and schools around the country

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

As
the Bearded Dog settles back into his usual kennel, having rinsed the final
traces of San Diego
sea-sand and sea-air from his hair (what is left of it) and his lungs, the
question remains – what was so great about ISTE. What lessons will the dog
apply this year, what skills gained and what knowledge acquired.

Arrff!

Without
doubt, the best part of ISTE for the dog was the opportunity to meet then
strangers who are now friends. As the dog always says – a stranger is simply a
friend to be. And what are friends if not people of whom to take advantage? In
a good way of course!

The
dog considers himself to be very fortunate to have met and befriended so many
wonderful people not only from the Avichai Contingency, but from the real world
too. And – one of the best parts of ISTE, the “BoF” (Birds of a Feather)
sessions allowed the dog to meet real people who are dealing with real Ed Tech
challenges in real schools. (In the way that the dog imagines himself to be
doing too!)

The
dog considers himself to be “ok” with Moodle. But – as a result of ISTE, the
dog has at least three real people – all of whom live in an imaginary world,
with whom he can discuss Moodle questions, challenges and stumbling blocks. If
ISTE provided nothing other than this – the dog would have left San Diego happily.

But
what – like the Shamwow – there’s more!

The
dog met many of the people who actually write – or wrote the books. Real live
human beings who, up until then, existed only in the Dog’s cyber-imagination.
Sir Ken Robinson (much better in the Dog’s imagination – BTW), Steve Hargadon,
Karen Kator, Professor Michael Fullan, Dr Avraham Kadar (founder of Brainpop)
and so many more…

ISTE
offered the dog a chance to meet and interact with giants in their field.

Then,
a highlight for the dog was the opportunity to participate in a real live panel
on the last day of the conference.

The
dog responded to a request from the Twitterverse and before you could say,
“Fetch that juicy bone…” the dog had been invited to join a panel discussion
around the idea of Social Media in Schools.

Arrrff!
– The irony is that this very topic was reason that the Dog wanted to come to
ISTE in the first place.

Led
by Steve Hargadon of stevehargadon.com; Classroom 2.0; Twitter, Google+;
Facebook etc fame, the panel offered its opinions on the use of Social Media in
schools – and then faced questions from the audience.

The
dog had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

And
learned that any one of us could be on the panel, could be on Twitter,
Facebook, etc. The dog learned that, in fact – so many of the “experts” were
and are ‘chalk-face’ teachers.Actually,
perhaps the correct term is SmartBoard Face Teachers. But – whatever the term, teachers
who stretched themselves just a little bit and began to create a cyber presence
for themselves.

Inspiring
stuff!

And
so the challenge remains – the dog hopes to share his experiences with his
colleagues, students, faculty and community and build shared learning networks
of individuals who, like those at ISTE, stretched themselves a little – and
gained so much more in return!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Forty two million new web pages were created last year and educational technology expert Adam Bellow recommended in a session at ISTE (Interational Symposium on Tech Education) trying just one. Perhaps small is the new huge.

Thinking small, or rather thinking focused, is an initially counterintuitive insight to have taken from a conference of the massive scope of ISTE. I went to San Diego, guided by numerous blog posts on how to avoid being overwhelmed by the immensity of the event: plan "must dos" in advance, leave time for serendipitous conversations, and wear comfortable shoes so as to be able to cover as much ground as possible at least literally if not figuratively.

Taking the advice seriously, I planned my ISTE strategy, making the deliberate decision to veer away from the "big names" of ed tech (although I couldn't resist learning at sessions with several ed tech leaders whose writings have guided me). Instead, I sought to connect mostly with by no means "small names" but with important voices not necessarily acclaimed; in the trenches teachers striving to make a positive difference in their schools by integrating technology to improve the quality of learning for their students. I was profoundly inspired by the array of talent among presenting teachers who are engaging students in blogging, electronic portfolios, collaborative writing, multimedia presentations, and global collaborations. I was similarly impressed by the tremendous ability and accomplishment of participants at the conference learning together. I found guidance and wisdom in areas of great interest to me.

I returned home and reflected, intending to make some initial decisions on how I might bring my learning at ISTE back to my school, wondering whether I as a principal might potentially teach courses in which students create and collaborate through blogging and electronic portfolios. Instead of rushing forward with plans, I gave myself permission to slow down and with the more relaxed pace of summer, allow learnings at ISTE to unfold and take shape in my mind without deadline. As the days and weeks passed, and the blog posts I intended to write about my experiences at ISTE swam in my head without making their way quickly into writing, I kept hearing the conversation beneath the conversation at ISTE - the passion of teachers, the gratitude toward principals who nurture and support teachers' passions, and the frustration with principals who do not as effectively nurture and support teachers' passions as effectively as they might.

I had come to ISTE with the essential question "how can I as a principal more effectively support teachers in my school to improve learning?" I wondered whether in answer to that essential question, the greatest insights might come not from the content of sessions, but rather from the emotions and longings teachers expressed quietly between the lines and beneath the content of sessions. I imagined what teachers at my school might present at a conference like ISTE and recognized a plethora of possibilities: using interactive white boards interactively in kindergarten and first grade, ipads as assistive technology for special education students, social media with training wheels: edmodo as a tool to introduce elementary school students to on-line creative collaboration, engaging families and students in learning through engaging teacher web pages, from voice threads to voki: giving voice to student voice, and flipping the classroom for the tech tentative teacher. The potential for creating a platform for teachers to share and to shine was sounding more and more compelling.

Paradoxically, perhaps the greatest gift I received at the ISTE mega conference was a new set of lenses through which to look at professional learning; focusing on small as the new huge. Forty two million new web pages were created last year. Even the most tech tentative among us can try just one. Perhaps that humble beginning will make a potent difference. Perhaps, just perhaps, small is the new huge.

Sunday, July 08, 2012

So, it has been over a week since I've returned from the best experience to kick start my summer: the ISTE12 conference. Thanks to the generosity of the Avichai Foundation, I got to spend 4 glorious days in sunny San Diego, learning all about education in the 21st century.
In my previous blog post, I reflected on the "wow" effect this conference had on me. In this blog post, after being back for over a week, I choose to focus on the take aways and lessons learned from this conference.
First and foremost, I think that the success of this conference is in the opportunity it gives educators to network and learn from each other. In planning for the conference, I was so focused on choosing and re-choosing the sessions. As great as those were, I think I learned the most from the people I had the privilege to interact with and have discussions with, and most importantly, will continue to remain in touch with.
I got a chance to meet and learn from some gurus in the field, and I'm so grateful for that. But, meeting educators from all over North America, connecting and learning from them, being able to continue these connections beyond the conference, is invaluable.
Second, I was re-introduced to twitter. I had an account that I signed up for a long time ago. I was not really using that account much. When at ISTE, you kind of have to tweet, just like the saying goes "when in Rome...". Everyone was blogging and tweeting. So did I. Every session mentioned twitter (at some point), and I kind of got into it.
The truth is that I really got back into it, and I haven't stopped ever since. I'm so impressed with the wealth of information that can be found on twitter,that I'm embarrassed that I haven't kept on top of my tweeting in the past while. As a matter of fact, I've been following so many new hash tags and been so involved in new discussions, that it feels as if ISTE never ended.
And then there is what comes next, which is sharing. I've taken so many notes and learned about so many apps, initiatives, ideas and projects, that I am bursting at the seams. I am trying different things, setting up initiatives for the fall, trying to bring forward different suggestions and idea to my team, wanting to implement some of the wonderful things I've learned about.
That is what proves that ISTE was indeed worthwhile, if the takeaways from it can or would be implemented, if it was inspiring enough to be taken further.
I'm excited about the possibilities and am determined to take it further.
Yes, it is kind of overwhelming... So many notes have been taken at the conference, so many ideas and apps have been introduced. Trying to implement it all is simply impossible. But, I'm lucky to work with an amazing team of educators, who are used to me getting excited over new initiatives that have to with technology. They are "on board" with me, willing to try it out and implement it with my support.
What will be implemented at Associated Hebrew Schools this fall?
Well, we intend to experiment with QR codes. This was a big take away for me. I saw some great examples of using those in educational settings, and the away that the codes make teaching come to life and that is certainly one thing that we will implement in the fall.
Also, our school has purchased several iPads this summer that will be deployed in September. Many of the sessions I took gave me tips, tricks and ideas of how to deploy and use those iPads successfully, not to mention a huge list of apps I would like to explore. A very exciting thing to look forward to.
A third initiative that has been brewing in me since coming back from ISTE has to do with student blogging. I've attended several sessions outlining the success of allowing students to blog, the way different educators have implemented student blogging in their classroom. I've even learned about the flat classroom project where blogging connected children from across the globe. I intend to pursue this with my colleagues and take it further into the implementation stage.
Lastly, I would like to further my colleagues and my learning through our PLCs (I believe that it is PLCs in Canada and PLN in the US). Sharing knowledge and ideas, learning and reflection can all be done through these wonderful networks and communities. Whether in school, on line, or otherwise, I look forward to sharing and continuing my learning and experimentation with technology in the classroom to promote student engagement and success.
Once again, thanks Avichai for all that you've done to get me to ISTE. Todda Rabba!
Wishing everyone a great summer,
Avital Aharon
Associated Hebrew Schools
Toronto, Canada

Friday, July 06, 2012

The learning that took
place at the ISTE Conference (at least for me), took place everywhere: in the exhibition
hall, the various sessions, the lobbies, outdoor patios, meeting rooms and shuttle
bus, not to mention our Avi Chai sessions each evening. There are a lot of great teachers and administrators
out there and I found myself trying to absorb as much as possible throughout.

That being said, the
experience was also overwhelming, especially when I stopped to think about the
work ahead and the feeling that no matter how pro-active we are, the risk of treading
water or falling behind the eight ball looms heavily in my thoughts. How can our school, or any school, implement
all of the tools, applications or educational approaches that were presented at
ISTE? How can I possibly follow and learn
something from all of my new twitter connections? How many of the various tools presented in the
exhibition hall can any one school adopt, even if budget were not an issue (which
it is)?

Then came my AHA moment…provided
by a wide variety of my ISTE “teachers.”

§Take away one or two terrific ideas, tools or implementation
ideas from any given session or discussion.

§Don’t worry about the tweets you miss. Rather, be excited
to learn new ideas from the tweets you were able to read and process. Whatever you DO read and learn is more than you would have
discovered only a few days ago.

§Share, share, share. Do you have a great idea that worked
in your school? Don’t be proprietary…why shouldn’t students everywhere be
able to benefit from your spark? I met a
young Spanish teacher who decided that she could not teach 11 year old kids using
a 13 year old textbook. So she created her
own online textbook using weebly, which anyone can view and/or use. Take a look at this: http://spanishtechbook.weebly.com/

§Don’t be afraid of failure…your own and those of your teachers.
That’s how you learn.

§Put the education process in the hands of your students…let them
own it.

So what am I going to
do this summer to prepare for the 2012-13 school year as a result of participating
in the ISTE Conference?

First and foremost, I am
going to develop a number of action plans for the upcoming school year, focusing
on:

1)Establishing a resource wiki or site for our teachers suggesting
various web tools and providing links to some of the wonderful projects and tools
I learned about at ISTE. I look forward to
having teachers add their resources to the reference site as well as feedback
from others who have tried new approaches or tools.

2)Outlining a course of professional development for our faculty
for the 2012-13 academic year. The plan
will include a combination of peer mentoring, online professional development, as well as discussions, demonstrations and presentations
on curriculum development and technology integration.

3)Widening my own personal learning network – this was one of the
main messages I took away from the ISTE Conference. In order to grow professionally and impact the
learning culture at our school, I must expand my PLN and learn from the experience
of others. I am awed by the quantity and
quality of dedicated education professionals who are willing to share their ideas,
knowledge and skills with anyone. I intend
to take advantage of their openness and smarts (and in turn share my newly acquired
knowledge with colleagues at our school).
I will encourage our faculty members to establish and/or widen their own
PLNs for the same purpose.

4)I will investigate the concept and implementation options of blended
learning to see if and how our students can benefit from this educational model,
both in their secular and Judaic studies.

This is a great beginning
and I am excited and grateful for the opportunity provided by the Avi Chai Foundation. I hope that other members of our faculty and
administration will be able to attend ISTE in future years.

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

“The war between the digital natives and the digital
immigrants is over, and the natives won.”
(Marc Prensky in opening ISTE keynote).
The statement points to technologies promise for student
empowerment. Yet, just as in earlier
eras when learning centers, project-based learning and differentiated
instruction held such possibility, there is always a pull in the opposite
direction.

Prensky got it right in the imagery of a “battle”.
Those of us who believe in constructivist learning, need to leverage
technology for this purpose. Alan November's workshops were all about this - empowering our students to construct their own knowledge. The other
guys (top down educators) who were quite apparent in many of the packaged
education technology solutions presented in the exhibition hall will use technology for their ends - skill based learning sells. To be sure, there is a role for skill based learning - but a limited one - one that is in the service of higher order thinking. But
the natives will move on taking their learning outside of the classroom as they
do now if school use of technologically reduces to skill-based learning only.

The ISTE conference was transformative for me in that it gave me the time, space and connections to reflect about these "big" technology issues. In the past, I would have sent only my technology teacher to a conference like this. Thank you Avi Chai for having the wisdom of sending a Head of School. I now can engage (and already have) my whole staff to think carefully about our technology goals for our students. I can envision a future and build capacity in the school to set us up for best practices in this area. This week, I sent an email to my parent body and my staff explaining Alan November's lesson about searching for credible sources on the internet. Although it is summer, I received more responses to that note than I have to most blogs and emails that I sent throughout the year to our community.

A few more thank yous are in order: Thank you for bringing the day schools together - it was always comforting to see and to chat with colleagues in what could have been a very overwhelming, impersonal experience. Thank you for orchestrating complicated food needs. Finally, thank you for making me into a tweeter, albeit a timid tweeter, but a tweeter nonetheless.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

I have written in the past about the importance that I attach to the social network Twitter, but the true importance of it was driven home to me on several occasions during last weeks conference of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). I knew going in that there would be many people there that I knew about via Twitter, perhaps because I follow them or perhaps because they are "Twitter rock stars". However, my own personal "Twitter moments" at the conference made the event something that it would not otherwise have been.

To wit:

1) No sooner had I boarded my plane Sunday morning and settled into my seat than the woman across from me asked me if I was going to ISTE. Turns out it was Dr. Shira Leibowitz (@shiraleibowitz), Principal of Solomon Schechter in Westchester, NY, an avid and respected tweep, both in Jewish and general education circles. Finally putting faces to the avatars, we had some fruitful discussions, occasionally joined by Dov Emerson (@dovemerson), founder of #jedchat and Assistant Principal at DRS-HALB on Long Island.

2) While waiting to enter the opening keynote, I finally met in person Debby Jacoby (@debbyj18) of the BJE in San Francisco, someone with whom I have been corresponding all year - to the point that we have already collaborated on several projects. I should note that that last statement is not strange in the twitterverse - several presentations at ISTE were co-run by people who considered themselves colleagues and friends yet had never met before coming to San Diego.

3) I walked into the conference on Monday morning and noticed a semi-familiar looking individual sitting on the floor (which is common at ISTE) perusing his daily schedule for the day. Taking a chance, I said, "Mr. Amidon?" - and Tyler Amidon (@mramidon), who I had only corresponded with via #edchat, looked up, recognized my Twitter name written on my badge, and wound up following me to the first session of the day. We would attend several other sessions together during the course of the conference, and have continued our dialogue in the week since. As he tweeted to me following the conference: "Chatting now will be that much richer now that I've shaken your hand!!"

4) I attended a panel session about flipped learning moderated by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman. During the session, I was tweeting notes and questions that I had about what was being discussed. Common practice is to do this mainly for those who cannot be in the session but want to follow it anyway (multitasking is very vibrant at ISTE). After I tweeted one question about something one of the panelists said, I glanced down and saw that he had tweeted me back an answer. This back-and-forth continued for a moment or two, and in the meantime others noticed the discussion and jumped in.

Now for the cool part. No sooner did the panel end when the person sitting in front of me turned around and asked if I was Rabbi Ross (my Twitter handle). When I replied yes, he introduced himself as the person who had just tweeted me a question, and we began speaking about creating online materials for Judaic Studies classes. As we made our way towards the door, someone else stopped me, and it turned out that she had also been following the tweets and suddenly we had a very rich conversation among five or six people about some new ideas in the Jewish classroom.

5) Of course, part of the way that I choose the sessions that I attended - out of several hundred choices - was by seeing which twitter heroes I wanted to hear from for more than 140 characters. As such, I had the pleasure of hearing Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann) discuss his successes at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) speak about wikis and the flat classroom, and George Couros (@gcouros) and Patrick Larkin (@patrickmlarkin) discuss visionary leadership and digital citizenship.

What is common in all of these anecdotes, and probably thousands of others that people could tell from ISTE, is that they highlighted the fact that Twitter is just a tool, but a very effective one. While I have learned much from so many people in snippet-length tweets, the most important thing to come out of all of that is the basis for real human interactions and relationships. Having interacted with people via Twitter, I knew to seek them out to learn more from them. I agree that networking with people in a blind fashion is missing something, but there is no question that it can certainly be a step to greater things.

I have written in the past about the importance that I attach to the social network Twitter, but the true importance of it was driven home to me on several occasions during last weeks conference of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). I knew going in that there would be many people there that I knew about via Twitter, perhaps because I follow them or perhaps because they are "Twitter rock stars". However, my own personal "Twitter moments" at the conference made the event something that it would not otherwise have been.

To wit:

1) No sooner had I boarded my plane Sunday morning and settled into my seat than the woman across from me asked me if I was going to ISTE. Turns out it was Dr. Shira Leibowitz (@shiraleibowitz), Principal of Solomon Schechter in Westchester, NY, an avid and respected tweep, both in Jewish and general education circles. Finally putting faces to the avatars, we had some fruitful discussions, occasionally joined by Dov Emerson (@dovemerson), founder of #jedchat and Assistant Principal at DRS-HALB on Long Island.

2) While waiting to enter the opening keynote, I finally met in person Debby Jacoby (@debbyj18) of the BJE in San Francisco, someone with whom I have been corresponding all year - to the point that we have already collaborated on several projects. I should note that that last statement is not strange in the twitterverse - several presentations at ISTE were co-run by people who considered themselves colleagues and friends yet had never met before coming to San Diego.

3) I walked into the conference on Monday morning and noticed a semi-familiar looking individual sitting on the floor (which is common at ISTE) perusing his daily schedule for the day. Taking a chance, I said, "Mr. Amidon?" - and Tyler Amidon (@mramidon), who I had only corresponded with via #edchat, looked up, recognized my Twitter name written on my badge, and wound up following me to the first session of the day. We would attend several other sessions together during the course of the conference, and have continued our dialogue in the week since. As he tweeted to me following the conference: "Chatting now will be that much richer now that I've shaken your hand!!"

4) I attended a panel session about flipped learning moderated by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman. During the session, I was tweeting notes and questions that I had about what was being discussed. Common practice is to do this mainly for those who cannot be in the session but want to follow it anyway (multitasking is very vibrant at ISTE). After I tweeted one question about something one of the panelists said, I glanced down and saw that he had tweeted me back an answer. This back-and-forth continued for a moment or two, and in the meantime others noticed the discussion and jumped in.

Now for the cool part. No sooner did the panel end when the person sitting in front of me turned around and asked if I was Rabbi Ross (my Twitter handle). When I replied yes, he introduced himself as the person who had just tweeted me a question, and we began speaking about creating online materials for Judaic Studies classes. As we made our way towards the door, someone else stopped me, and it turned out that she had also been following the tweets and suddenly we had a very rich conversation among five or six people about some new ideas in the Jewish classroom.

5) Of course, part of the way that I choose the sessions that I attended - out of several hundred choices - was by seeing which twitter heroes I wanted to hear from for more than 140 characters. As such, I had the pleasure of hearing Chris Lehmann (@chrislehmann) discuss his successes at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) speak about wikis and the flat classroom, and George Couros (@gcouros) and Patrick Larkin (@patrickmlarkin) discuss visionary leadership and digital citizenship.

What is common in all of these anecdotes, and probably thousands of others that people could tell from ISTE, is that they highlighted the fact that Twitter is just a tool, but a very effective one. While I have learned much from so many people in snippet-length tweets, the most important thing to come out of all of that is the basis for real human interactions and relationships. Having interacted with people via Twitter, I knew to seek them out to learn more from them. I agree that networking with people in a blind fashion is missing something, but there is no question that it can certainly be a step to greater things.

The digital experience is all the rage now and people talk
about there being two kinds of populations of users: a) digital natives – mostly the younger
generation who have grown up with technology and the internet and who have organically
lived with it as part of their day-to-day experience. They know and understand
how to use it and how it works. And, b)
digital immigrants – mostly those of the “older generations” ; those of us who
came to it later in our lives as it became more prevalent in society and daily
usage.

I am a digital immigrant. In fact, I just recently got off
the boat!

While, there is clearly a huge reality gap between learning
about technology and being a real immigrant to a country, I can’t help but
think about my parents’ immigrant experience as a metaphor. Like my parents who arrived on these shores
in the previous generation and were strangers in America, I too sometimes feel
like a stranger in this new world of technology. I’m trying to learn the language (I know some
words and phrases to get me by) , I’m navigating
the social and cultural ways of this new
society, and I’m trying to figure out how I fit in. Thanks to the Avi Chai
foundation I had an opportunity to chip away at that last week at the ISTE
conference in San Diego.

My school is going through a similar experience. That is, we are a young institution only now
entering this new world of technology. We’re just learning the new language and
finding our way in this new world. We’re beginning to seriously explore how we
can use technology to support the
kind of teaching and learning that we do in our school. I know there are many other schools out there
who share this reality. Schools who have watched technology and the digital
workplace explode but who haven’t yet fully joined in, either because they
weren’t prepared or didn’t have the staff members or leadership ready to invest
in this new language and life style.

At my school we understand that the time has come. None of
us can any longer afford to sit on the side lines and watch our students live
digital lives without both joining them and
stepping in to guide them.

I came to ISTE this week with many questions and walk away
having answered some and generated others. The good news is that I’m slowly
finding my way around this new world and learning to ask more pointed
questions, and beginning to recognize the questions I still need to ask and
conversations that I still need to have.
I’ve shared many of these thoughts with my fellow ISTE participants last
week over dinner and many offered suggestions. To those of you out there in the
blogosphere: I welcome your input as well. I’m hoping to learn from many of
you.

The operative question for me, at this point, is how do I help
my staff come along on this immigrant journey with me and my leadership team colleagues. My school is a young institution,
thankfully already with a culture of active learning, differentiation, and
reflection. At faculty meetings and in
professional conversations we’re already talking about how to structure our
classrooms and design our curricula and programs in ways that engage students
according to their needs, offer kids choice in their learning, and involve
collaboration and authentic audiences. Our
teachers are already “guides on the side” (as opposed to the “sage on the
stage”) and direct their students through constructivist exercises, inquiry and
projects. But, for the most part, we don’t fully understand technology nor are
we yet taking advantage of the very real potential that technology has to extend
our kids’ learning experience. Yes, we
have a handful of Smartboards and a library of laptops, but we use them in
pretty limited ways. A few teachers know
how to use the Smartboard and our laptops are used mostly for word processing
and searching the internet. I walk away
from ISTE with the recognition that technology can support , enhance and extend
the kind of active learning that we already do in our school. But how do I help
my staff (and myself) get there?

We are a small school and don’t yet have the budget for an Educational
Technology Coordinator to introduce and lead our motivated staff through this
“immigrant experience.” I’m still
working through how I, an immigrant myself, can lead my colleagues through this
new experience. I’m looking to you, fellow educators already familiar with, and
committed to, technology and the active
learning it supports, to guide me in integrating it more into my school and helping
my teachers maximize this active learning. I welcome your input and look forward to
hearing what has worked for you.

Friday, June 29, 2012

I try to stay away from politics when blogging. Unless something in the news directly impacts on technology in Jewish education (like the Asifa), I shy away from commenting. It's not my role to pontificate about that latest current events and I don't think people care much about where I stand on political issues. However, I think there is a tremendous lesson about the role of technology in education to be culled from the news reporting surrounding the recent Supreme Court decision on the national health care plan.

Both CNN and FoxNews got it wrong. In their initial reporting after the decision was delivered at 10AM yesterday, they both headlined that the Supreme court had struck down the law. CNN ran the wrong headline for 6 long minutes before correcting itself and declaring that the court had actually upheld the law. How could they both be so wrong?

In a report on NPR addressing this question, Brian Stelter of the New York Times made a point that was both obvious and profound. They didn't read. In their rush to get the news first, both networks read the first few paragraphs of the ruling in which the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts wrote that the health care legislation could not be upheld using the Commerce Clause and ran with the headline that the Supreme Court had struck down the health care law. They failed to read the next few paragraphs in which Justice Roberts declared the law to be constitutional since its fines could be considered a tax and not a penalty.

The politics of this ruling is not something for me to comment on. However, the lesson for the role of attentive reading in our technological age is profound. How many of us are so quick to blog and tweet that we fail to read attentively and listen carefully?

This point was the source of a great deal of debate at an Avi Chai sponsored dinner at this week's ISTE technology conference. One educator posed the question that with so much tweeting going throughout the lectures, how many of us fail to listen carefully enough to understand what is really being said. I countered that with a back channel of dozens or hundreds tweeting about what was being said at the workshop, the effect deepened the conversation and made each lesson more interactive. However, I can see both sides of this debate. Yes, live tweeting a lesson or news event can make a discussion more interactive but is this at the expense of more active listening and reflection?

Many researchers have made similar points. In the book iDisorder, Larry Rosen discusses the similarity between technology users and various psychological disorders. For example, the behavior of many people during a lecture with many windows open on their laptop while they simultaneously take notes, tweet, and instant message closely mimics the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. In the Shallows which I have blogged about in the past, Nicholas Carr argues that technology is discouraging attentive, careful reading since we read much more superficially online, jumping from hyperlinked page to page.

I believe that this desire to get things fast whether in the news or on Twitter mitigates against comprehension of complex text requiring higher-order thinking whether it be supreme court rulings or Talmudic debates. This should give us pause when embracing technology in education. While tweeting and other real-time technology tools can add interaction to a class, is this at the expense of depth and thoughtfulness? Other technology tools which can encourage reflection like blogging and asynchronous online discussion should be considered to encourage this type of thinking. Or perhaps sometimes we should just turn off the technology and practice deep reading and attentive listening. Time to pause and reflect are vitally important for our students (and for us). It's more important to get it right than to get it first.

The definition of a motion leader is one who motivates the unmotivated in a way that the unmotivated then thank them for, Michael Fullan, ISTE Conference, 2012, Session Title: Stratosphere: Integrating Technology, Pedagogy and Change Knowledge

I came to ISTE (International Symposium on Tech Education) with one essential question: how can I, as a principal, support teachers in my school to improve learning? Perhaps attending an educational technology conference I should have shown more interest in the technology. And, I’ll admit, I was wowed by much of the technology. More significantly, I was moved by the focus on learning.

I gained more than I ever expected, experiencing a shift in a paradigm I had embraced and that has shaped my leadership in recent years. In the very first session I attended Monday morning, Michael Fullan, in true motion leader style, motivated me (ok I was already motivated, but supported me) to shift my perspectives on the role of teacher and by extension the role of principal from facilitator of learning to activator of learning.

Quoting John Hattie, Michael Fullan relayed that there is a .17 effect size on student learning when teachers act as facilitators of learning through problem based learning, simulations and gaming, and individualized instruction. Alternatively, there is a .84 effect size on student learning when teachers serve as activators of learning through offering feedback, accessing thinking, supporting challenging goals, and monitoring learning. It does not take extensive training in statistical analysis to find this research compelling.

I know, we love problem based learning, simulations and gaming, and individualized instruction. And, Michael Fullan did offer appropriate caution in our interpretation of Hattie’s findings, positing that gaming, for example, as currently utilized may not yet be effective but that skilled teachers may develop high quality use. Still, without dogmatic either/or – facilitator or activator – lines in the sand, I accept and appreciate Michael Fullan’s redirection.

Michael Fullan activated my learning even further, leaving me not only with a direction, but also with some concrete steps as to how to move forward. And, again, it’s not about the technology. Wisdom I gleaned included:

Offer respect to others before it is earned

Engage in impressive empathy, meaning empathy even for those who stand in your way

Invest in capacity building – human capital and social capital

Build social contagion

Eliminate non-essentials

Focus on a small number of ambitious goals.

Perhaps it is paradoxical that at a technology conference I walked away with the message that what matters is not new, but eternal. What matters is what has mattered for millennia: the quality of our relationships, our respect for one another, and the supportive environments we create. I spent the rest of the conference attending some fantastic sessions, learning some impressive technology tools, but most essentially, connecting and engaging with others who care deeply about learning. At a conference about what is current, I focused on what is enduring.

To Michael Fullan, the ISTE organizers, the AVICHAI Foundation who sponsored my participation, and the engaging educators with whom I learned, from one of the motivated, thank you!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I am writing this post as I sit and wait for the final keynote at the ISTE12 conference to begin. I'm surrounded by thousands of people as I am trying to reflect on what I experienced during the last 4 days.
Thanks to a generous grant from Avichai, I had the opportunity to attend this amazing conference in San Diego.
The ability to be part of this large gathering of educators made me feel like I am part of a massive club of committed educators ("techies" if you will) all of whom want to learn about education in the 21st century, technology integration and want to be informed of the best tools and ideas that exist out there.
In preparing for this, I read the blogs, tweets and postings about ISTE. I tried to get ready by making sure I pack comfortable shoes (I am usually in high heels), charge all my idevices, fill out the forms, spend a week choosing and re-choosing sessions, print out my schedule, print labels with my information for all the prizes I thought i will be winning, take another look at my sessions and change some things around, sign up for some after hours parties and basically... make sure I can make the most out of the experience.
But nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced.
It truly was an overwhelming experience (in a good way), full of learning and intense jam-packed few days. I tried to do it all, which was really impossible...
I attended session after session, running from one end of the convention centre to the other, I went through the exhibition, trying to have hands on experiences and listen to some information about products and services (and yes, I admit, I wanted some swag, things to take home, praying that I win a an iPad). I sparked conversations with complete strangers, I tried to learn from everyone and everything: poster sessions, other educators, keynote speakers, computers, tweets, random volunteers, and ofcourse- children.
Each session I attended opened the door to new information, meeting new people, considering new options for improving teaching and engaging student, but most importantly - learning.
I will be amiss if I don't mention the opportunity that I had to connect with the great group of Avichai educators who joined me on this journey.
It was fantastic to meet them, talk to them and be able to reflect with them each evening on what we learned and discuss the application of this learning opportunity in our different Jewish day schools.
I made some great friends, got to meet face to face some of the individual's I've been following on twitter, and catch up with some old friends as well. This alone - was an important and worth while experience. It was great to meet other Jewish day school educators who, like me, are so passionate about education and technology, who are committed to teaching and learning in today's digital age, and who want to make a difference in Jewish education.
ISTE also helped me think about our learners: our students and the way we can reach them better, how we can get them to collaborate, how I and the teachers I work with can make a difference in their lives by implementing these fantastic ideas, tools and incredible learning opportunities.
There is no arguing that digital age learning and teaching has changed and will continue to change. ISTE helped me See what digital learning can be all about. On one hand, the gurus in the field presented. People like Adam Bellow, Vicki Davis, Michael Fullan, Tony Vincent and other big names offered fascinating opportunities to learn about topics and issues close to my heart, as a technology coordinator and a teacher (first and foremost). They had much to say about education as a whole, and technology's role in it. Then there were sessions where everyday teachers, and even students (yes, students!) presented and showed us, the participants in the conference, what can be done. It was just inspiring to be part of that.
ISTE's theme was "Expanding the horizons" and that they really did. New possibilities were introduced, sites, apps, social media, products and so much more are the things I'm coming home with. I'm committed to share this learning, whether it is by including it in the posts I'll be writing, I'll be presenting it in the PD I'll be offering, or by implementing it by introducing it in our PLCs throughout the upcoming year.
Thank you Avichai for your generosity and for this amazing opportunity, for your hospitality and for all the excitement I feel as I think of what I'm coming home with and where I can take this knowledge from here.
I can't wait to impart this knowledge!
Avital Aharon
J.S and Technology Coordinator
Associated Hebrew Schools
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

That title must seem fairly strange, especially as I am now at day 4 of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, a 20,000 person shindig with educators from around the country and around the world all here to discuss and learn about - what else? - technology and it's place in education. I will post more about someof the specific take-always from this conference and some of the really cool things about it as well in later posts. For now, I want to focus on this one issue.

One of the overriding themes at many of the sessions that I have attended has been about keeping the focus on the students. I attended a session this morning co-presented by George Couros and Patrick Franklin, principals in Alberta, Canada and Burlington, Massachusetts, respectively, who between them have over 27,000 followers on twitter and are certifiable rock stars here at ISTE. One of the first things that George said was that he wants to remove the word digital from what we do because it incorrectly puts the focus on that aspect of our work. Their talk was about how principals envision their schools and how they encourage their students to think and take control of their education. It just so happens that a lot of technology is really useful for doing all of this - but it remains a tool, not the driving force.

On Monday morning, I attended a session by Alan November, wonderful speak who consistently advocates for teachers to find more and more ways to make students more active within the classroom. A key word in his presentation was motivation, with a particular focus on finding "jobs" for individual students to carry out in the classroom, such as scribe or researcher, that will allow them to have a greater and more active role in the learning that is taking place. Again, many of these ideas could not come to fruition without the powerof technology and the web, but the goal is what we do with all of that technology, not our focus on it.

I could go on and on, and I yet may do so in later posts. If you want to see my notes from the seasons I have attended, I have been posting them using Evernote (a wonderful tool that Tzvi Pittinsky just wrote about on his TechRav blog) and sting them to twitter (follow me at @rabbiross). But my point for now is that this conference is largely nothing that a critic of technology in schools would assume it to be. Yes, everyone is walking around with a smartphone and an iPad or chrome book or laptop and sometimes using more than one at a time. Yes, there is an overwhelming large vendor expo with more technology products than you could ever dream about. And, yes, I have learned about some really cool sites and devices.

But at the end of the day, this is an education conference and not a technology conference. To those people who have an allergic reaction every time someone suggests a new device or app to be used in the classroom, get over it. Technology already exists in your classroom and the best thing that you can do is to get ahead of it. It is indeed overwhelming and there are more products and sites and apps out there than we have time to think about. Nevertheless, the word from the experts and gurus out here is that the key is to keep our focus on where it has always been in schools - on our students. The rest is just commentary.